Our First Leach Pottery Apprentice Has Graduated

We’re pleased to announce that Callum Trudgeon, the first recipient of our Leach Pottery Bursary, has graduated from his apprenticeship at the internationally renowned Leach Pottery, St Ives. He was appointed in May 2014, following a process that drew applications from as far afield as Spain and the USA.

During his three year apprenticeship, he was trained to make pots by learning all aspects of the production of Leach Standard Ware. This included clay preparation, throwing pots, glazing and firing.

To celebrate Callum’s graduation, Leach Pottery have presented his first solo exhibition which features a range of domestic mugs and bowls, and decorative, one-off pieces such as moon jars and platters. You can view and purchase his collection until 30th July at the Leach Pottery itself, or via their website.

Whilst catching up with Callum last month he said, “It’s completely changed my entire life plan, I never thought of being a potter. I’d done a couple of evening classes and really enjoyed it. The apprenticeship became available towards the end of my degree and ticked a lot of boxes. I always thought I would end up leaving St Ives to find any sort of meaningful career.

The apprenticeship has involved working here and learning on the go – dictated by what is needed to be done. It’s involved every aspect of producing work: all of the processes have a certain aspect to them which I enjoy. I like how much the pots change during the firing, sometimes coming out completely differently to planned. That’s one of the most enjoyable parts of it!”

Callum’s also been a great mentor to our second Leach Pottery Apprentice, Matt, who’s currently in his second year at the pottery.

It’s been a great privilege to see Callum progress into a fully-fledged potter with his own personal style, and we can’t wait to see where his career takes him.

Don’t forget that we’re currently taking applications to be the next Seasalt-Leach apprentice. For more information and to apply for the Seasalt apprenticeship,visit www.leachpottery.com/apprenticeship2017 before the closing date of Friday 11thAugust 2017.